I admit that I struggled a bit when I browsed different Bible Commentaries, searching for someone who witnessed what I have been experiencing lately. Yet all I found seemed to be so much more concerned with the idea of people falling away from faith through disobedience toward Christ that I thought I could address the issue on how to take our thoughts captive on a way lower level. That means, I will first share my recent experience and then post an excerpt of a Bible Commentary which was the closest regarding my own lesson learned.
As a starter, here’s the scripture I am referring to.

“For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.” (2 Cor 10: 3-5 KJV)

Today in the morning I was not sure whether I should write a new article – or not. Yesterday I was convinced I would do it, however, I did not publish one thing. 😉 You see, it is always God’s surprising guidance which meanwhile makes me grin that often, since, if I could still do as I saw fit, I would not know that He is the One who always guides me.

As I stood in the bathroom in front of the mirror, a few ordinary thoughts came to mind. As I began to follow them, I felt suddenly nudged to stop and wonder. I had been thinking about how to organize and plan not only today, but tomorrow as well. At the same moment as a whiff of worry set in, God made me aware of what I was doing at that moment. I clearly saw that it was my habit in the past to always try to control the uncontrollable future which lies in God hands alone. Those thought habits have held me captive as long as I can think.

Then the scripture above popped up in my mind and I asked God how I could stop those old and worn-out thought patterns. Actually, you may wonder how easy it is to get away from all that disconcerting, mind disturbing stuff. I was also reminded of how I tried long ago to become a “positive thinker” by focusing on thinking only positive thoughts. To be honest, it worked for about one or two minutes and then I was back in the dumps. Even meditating for hours only brought me a few minutes of calmness until Susanne’s “old mind” held her captive again.

So, the solution is indeed as easy as can be. When I was looking at those familiar thought patterns which tried to pull me back into some spiritual slumber, I heard God simply say, “Come to Me.”
Approaching Him in my spirit and with my heart, keeping one of my favorite Scriptures in mind which reads,

“Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” (Phil 4:6-7 KJV)

I felt how quickly all of these things that had begun to disturb my mind and heart had disappeared into nirvana. In fact, they were GONE!! God’s peace had immediately dispelled any cloud of anxiety or sorrow that could dim out the bright light of His presence.

You see, it was NOT my doing to get rid of my old thoughts. Indeed, it is always God’s power alone that helps us change what we could never change on our own. As a confirmation of God’s Gospel power that changes everything and creates a new spiritual being in us, you could now read an excerpt from John Gill’s Exposition of the Bible where he explained 2 Corinthians chapter 10.

Verse 5. Casting down imaginations,…. Or “reasonings”; the carnal reasonings of the minds of natural men against God, his providences and purposes, against Christ, and the methods of salvation, and every truth of the Gospel; which are all disproved, silenced, and confounded, by the preaching of the word, which though reckoned the foolishness and weakness of God, appears to be wiser and stronger than men; and whereby the wisdom of the wise is destroyed, and the understanding of the prudent brought to nothing:

and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God; every proud thought of the heart, every great swelling word of vanity, every big look, even all the lofty looks and haughtiness of men, with every airy flight, and high towering imagination, reasoning, and argument advanced against the Gospel of Christ; which is here meant by the knowledge of God, and so called, because it is the means of leading souls into the knowledge of God, even into a better knowledge of him than can be attained to, either by the light of nature, or law of Moses; to a knowledge of him, and acquaintance with him in Christ the Mediator, in whom the light of the knowledge of the glory of God is given; and with which knowledge of God eternal life is connected, yea, in this it consists; it is the beginning of it, and will issue in it.

And bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; or “carrying captive the whole understanding”; that is, so illustrating it with divine light, that it clearly sees Christ to be the alone, able, willing, full, and suitable Saviour, and so becomes obedient to him, both as a Saviour and a King; such an enlightened soul looks to him alone for life and salvation, ventures on him, and relies upon him, and is desirous and willing to be saved by him in his own way; he receives and embraces all his truths and doctrines with faith and love, and obeys them from the heart, and cheerfully and willingly submits to all his commands and ordinances; for though he is taken by the grace of God, and all his strong holds, reasonings, and high thoughts are demolished by the power of God in the Gospel, and he himself is carried captive, yet not against, but with his will, to be a voluntary subject of Christ, and cheerfully to submit to the sceptre of his kingdom.

You are welcome, Joe. Thanks so much for your encouraging and edifying comment!

Indeed, trying to chase negative thoughts away was for me always like the fruitless attempt of NOT thinking about a blue elephant when someone told me before, “Woe to you, if you ever think of a blue elephant!!” I was only able to think of a green or a red elephant until the blue came into play again. 🙂

I always struggled to find the “peace that passed all understanding”. I turned to these verses again and again. But after praying, it almost always seemed that my worry and anxiety would remain. I asked Him why is this? And the Spirit told me to keep reading on.
In the very next verse reads, “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”

He showed me that my mind was still occupied with the things causing my worry and anxiety and that after praying I needed to begin to focus on pure, right, excellent, praiseworthy, lovely, admirable, noble and true things.

So now, after my prayer and supplication I am beginning to practice thinking about those things. For example – of my niece who survived stage 4 ovarian cancer through the healing of the Lord, of my lovely daughter who attempted suicide, but survived by His mercy, of the blessing of a new job, of the testimonies I read here and elsewhere of people being led into deeper and deeper revelation of His love for us – and of the reality of His living word.

Thank you so much for commenting on here, Rockley, and for sharing such great testimonies of the Lord’s mercy. 🙂

As for your daughter who tried to commit suicide, I can relate to it. What a horrible event if our children had succeeded due to their confused mental condition!! But thank God, He is in perfect control! Although our Lord never said that our life and circumstances would be easy, He promised to deliver us so that we can see His power and authority over all things AND that we can praise His name for everything He did for us, as you so rightly pointed out in your comment.

In your first paragraph you described your own struggles with finding that overwhelming peace. You wrote, “But after praying, it almost always seemed that my worry and anxiety would remain.” YES! It was the same for me. Honestly, without Him continually nudging me to refocus on edifying thoughts, again, I would easily get entangled in my old confusing thought habits. Actually, now I know that cannot do anything without Him (Jn 15:5).

Susanne this is excellent, i like God’s simplicity (So, the solution is indeed as easy as can be. When I was looking at those familiar thought patterns which tried to pull me back into some spiritual slumber, I heard God simply say, “Come to Me.”
Approaching Him in my mind and with my heart, keeping one of my favorite Scriptures in mind which reads,

“Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” (Phil 4:6-7 KJV)

I felt how quickly all of these things that had begun to disturb my mind and heart had disappeared into nirvana. In fact, they were GONE!! God’s peace had immediately dispelled any cloud of anxiety or sorrow that could dim out the bright light of His presence.)
It’s amazing how that works whether we are resisting the thoughts of the devil or our own anxious heart when we turn to Him ( or repent , turning to Him ) they have to flee (James4:7-87 Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.) also when we try to will to do ( in our own power ) we activate the law of sin and death Rom. 7.and are destined to fail.if i might share a little testimony. i shared in a comment in your last post that i suffered from depression and phobias one of them was agoraphobia.( fear of leaving a certain area ) i would try to leave home and drive to work i would get to a certain place ( the devils boundaries ) not to far from home and i would be overwhelmed by these thoughts of fear of dieing and anxiety and would have a panic attack ( couldn’t breath ) i would make a u turn in the road and head home. i tried to no avail to overcome but when i turned to the Lord on one of these trips when all the neg. thoughts started to come. the Lord spoke to me and said lets reason awhile,then he asked me a question ” what’s the worst that could happen to you ” and i said i can die ( yielding to the fear of death Hebrews 2:14-15 14 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;15 And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.) Then He said” where would you go if you died”and i said to be with you and then He said so what’s your problem and with that i drove on, and the thoughts left , to work. the next day when i came to that place and the thoughts came and the Lord said you did it yesterday now go on, and i did, He built on that first victory of turning to Him. eventually the thoughts stopped coming. i heard a teaching that when you have certain thoughts over and over for a period there is a chemical pattern established in your brain but with the Lords help ,turning to Him , changing your thoughts each time they come your way, after a short period that your brain puts up a chemical block when you start to go in that direction .and it becomes easy not to go there. Gods mercy ~ wayne

Wow!! What a rich reply, Wayne! And thank you so much for your encouraging words! 🙂

You said several important things above.

Beginning with the last point you mentioned, I too believe that we might have some chemical patterns for our “beloved” hamster wheels of thinking which can only be broken with God’s power.

What I found truly amazing was what you said here, “when we try to will to do ( in our own power ) we activate the law of sin and death Rom. 7.and are destined to fail.” Honestly, Wayne, that short sentence hit home. THAT IS THE TRUTH!!! I have never seen it that way before. Yes, we MUST fail whenever we try to walk after the flesh and we need not wonder why feelings of guilt and condemnation pop up again until we choose to walk by the Spirit again – with Him, in Him, and looking at Him.

Susanne- i just read a daily meditation by T Austin Sparks that fits right in with our conversation To him who overcomes, I will give some of the hidden manna to eat. (Revelation 2:17)
God always keeps the revelation of Himself in Christ bound up with practical situations. You and I can never get revelation other than in connection with some necessity. We cannot get it simply as a matter of information. That is information, that is not revelation. We cannot get it by studying. When the Lord gave the manna in the wilderness (a type of Christ as the Bread from heaven), He stipulated very strongly that not one fragment more than the day’s need was to be gathered, and that if they went beyond the measure of immediate need, disease and death would break out and overtake them. The principle, the law, of the manna, is that God keeps revelation of Himself in Christ bound up with practical situations of necessity, and we are not going to have revelation as mere teaching, doctrine, interpretation, theory, or anything as a thing, which means that God is going to put you and me into situations where only the revelation of Christ can help us and save us….
Now then, that is why the Lord would keep us in situations which are acute, real. The Lord is against our getting out on theoretical lines with truth, out on technical lines. Oh, let us shun technique as a thing in itself and recognize this, that, although the New Testament has in it a technique, we cannot merely extract the technique and apply it. We have to come into New Testament situations to get a revelation of Christ to meet that situation. So that the Holy Spirit’s way with us is to bring us into living, actual conditions and situations, and needs, in which only some fresh knowledge of the Lord Jesus can be our deliverance, our salvation, our life, and then to give us, not a revelation of truth, but a revelation of the Person, new knowledge of the Person, that we come to see Christ in some way that just meets our need. We are not drawing upon an “it,” but upon a “Him.”
your brother ~ wayne

I hope i’m not overstepping boundaries but just one more short meditation by Sparks that fits in with the conversation Thanks
When one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. (2 Corinthians 3:16,17)
Liberty from what? Well, if we turn to the Lord, and are occupied with Him in the way we have indicated, the Holy Spirit sets us free. It may be you are struggling, striving, fighting, wrestling, praying, pleading, longing, yearning, asking the Lord to set you free from condemnation, free from fear, from those paralyzing bonds in which Israel was when the glory appeared. Do you want to be free from fear, from dread, from terror, from condemnation? What are you doing to get free? There is one simple, direct way, namely, to be occupied with the Lord, to turn to the Lord. Get Christ as God’s satisfaction in your view, and cease trying to satisfy God yourself. Faith in Christ is all God’s requirement. How deeply true were His words, “Apart from Me ye can do nothing.” “Abide in Me. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in Me.” That is only figurative language, which means be occupied with Him, set your mind on Him, dwell in Him, rest in Him, abide in Him; or, as Paul would say, “Gaze on Him, behold Him,” let Him be the object of your occupation, and the Spirit will make you free.
More than that, this beholding of Christ means that the Holy Spirit changes you into God’s likeness: “Beholding… we are changed.” It is not said, “Beholding, we begin to change ourselves,” and we embark upon self-transformation with all its struggle, and conflict, and battle. We are changed by the Lord the Spirit. Be occupied with Christ, and the Spirit takes up the matter of transforming into His image. Be occupied with yourself, and you will see that the law of conformity to type operates. If you are the type, then you will conform to that type. If Christ is the type, then the Holy Spirit will conform to His likeness. Then this being occupied with Christ means that the Holy Spirit makes us sufficient as ministers of a new covenant. I do not think that ministry is such an onerous thing after all. We need to come back to the simplicity and the spontaneity of ministry. Be occupied with Christ, and the Holy Spirit will show you more and more in Christ with which to be occupied, and as He makes that livingly real, you will have something to give to others.
By T. Austin-Sparks

I enjoyed reading your two comments before that one when I was underway today. However, my mobile didn’t grant me access to my blog so that I could have given you at least a LIKE beneath those comments.

Indeed, T.A. Sparks’s devotionals match with my recent experiences and I am so grateful that you copied and pasted them because it was, truly (!) a confirmation for me from the Lord. So, my dear brother, don’t you worry, please. It was God who nudged you to write on here.

All in all, it is so relieving for me now that I can finally give up all fruitless efforts to change myself. Currently I’d like to compare my life with a step-by-step-surrender, a period in which I find myself very often in uncomfortable situations of which I KNOW how I normally (re)acted in the past. In fact, I am so fed up with being what I always was that I began to pray very often for being ushered out of my former life and its habits. And lo and behold, that prayer must have been from God since He rather quickly listens to my helpless cries.

So true, Wayne. Necessity begets revelation. Oh, the HIDDEN manna!! That is a deep mystical picture, describing Christ’s Spirit that should be eaten, even consumed by us. That is true communion, indeed.

Thanks for sharing that great devotional, my brother. Much appreciated! 🙂

Susanne, thanks to you and those leaving a reply. Jesus truly is the answer to whatever problem we have.

I heard someone say that the body has memory. I did not believe that, however; now I do. The reason that I do is that one day I was walking across my yard when a snake ran in front of me. I jumped in fear. The next day I was going across my yard(same spot) and I jumped. I thought, ” what was that all about”? Then I remembered the snake from the day before. When I jumped I had forgotten all about the snake. However, I knew that was how I jump when something startles or causes fear in me. We need the Lord to go to even in the body responses. I need my body, mind, soul and spirit captive to Jesus.

Oh, that is a great testimony you shared with us, my sister! In contrast, I believe it was anything but great to have an encounter with a snake in your own yard, reflecting on the fear you might have felt, plus the insecurity afterwards, perhaps being afraid the snake could creep up on you again.
By the way, a few days ago I saw a rather huge snake when I was underway with my bike. I was alone in the woods and at first I jumped as well. But suddenly I was reminded of the following scriptures of which the Lord so often in the past proved to be true. It says,

“Because you have made the Lord your dwelling place— the Most High, who is my refuge—no evil shall be allowed to befall you, no plague come near your tent. For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone. You will tread on the lion and the adder; the young lion and the serpent you will trample underfoot. “Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him; I will protect him, because he knows my name.” (Ps 91:9-14 ESV)

Of course, the verses I just copied and pasted spoke of Jesus. And the animals here should be spiritually understood as powers from the darkness (Satan and demons). Nonetheless, I cannot count how often during the last years God indeed saved me from dangerous situations. And whenever I feel that scripture coming alive in my heart and mind, I KNOW I can trust Him. Actually, it was a cute snake recently. Looked somehow like silver jewelry. 😉

Yes, I saw that it’s difficult when I tried to give you a LIKE yesterday and I couldn’t because I was not able to log in to WordPress. As for you as a non-blogger, I think it would be enough to change your gravatar, your ID, which is the dark blue and white pic on the left of your name that can be seen whenever you write comments on WordPresscom blogs. You can sign in to gravatar here https://en.gravatar.com/.

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